May my speech be firmly rooted in my mind, and may my mind be firmly rooted in my speech. O radiant one, reveal yourself to me; protect me, protect the speaker—again and again, may you shield us both. Om. Peace, peace, peace. Now begins the sacred teaching of the Aitareya Upanishad. In the beginning, before anything else existed, there was only the Self—alone, absolute, without a second. The Self contemplated: “Let me create the worlds.” With this resolve, the Self brought forth the worlds: first, the waters beyond the heavens; then the region of light, which is the sky; the world of mortals, which is the earth; and beneath all, again, the waters. Yet, seeing these worlds, the Self thought, “These worlds now exist, but who will protect and guide them?” So the Self drew forth a Person from the waters, shaping him with great care. The Self then heated him with divine energy, and as this heat worked upon him, his mouth broke open as an egg cracks. From the mouth emerged speech, and with speech, fire came into being. The nostrils opened, and from them breath appeared, giving rise to air. The eyes opened, and from them sight arose, and with sight, the sun was born. The ears opened, and from them hearing came forth, and with hearing, the directions. The skin opened, and from it sprouted hair, and from hair, plants and trees appeared. The heart opened, and from it mind was born, and from mind, the moon. The navel opened, and from it the out-breath emerged, from which death itself arose. Finally, the generative organ opened, and from it came semen, and from semen, water. These deities, thus created, found themselves cast into the vast ocean. There, hunger and thirst overpowered them. They spoke to the Self, “Find us a dwelling place where we may be established and partake of food.” The Self brought them a cow, but they said, “This is not sufficient for us.” The Self then brought them a horse, but again they replied, “This is not sufficient for us.” Finally, the Self brought them a human being. The deities rejoiced, saying, “Well done! Truly, the human is well made.” The Self instructed them, “Enter your respective abodes.” Thus, fire, taking the form of speech, entered the mouth; air, as breath, entered the nostrils; the sun, as sight, entered the eyes; the directions, as hearing, entered the ears; plants and trees, as hair, entered the skin; the moon, as mind, entered the heart; death, as the out-breath, entered the navel; and water, as semen, entered the generative organ. Hunger and thirst then approached the Self and pleaded, “Assign us a place among these.” The Self replied, “I assign you as partners to these very deities.” Thus, whenever an offering is made to any deity, hunger and thirst are their companions. The Self then reflected, “These worlds and their guardians exist, but let me create food for them.” The Self heated the waters, and from the heat a form arose—this was food itself. The Self tried to seize the food with speech, but could not grasp it; if it had been possible, mere utterance would have satisfied hunger. He tried with breath, but could not grasp it; if so, breathing would have sufficed. Sight, hearing, touch, mind, and the generative organ all failed to seize food—if any had succeeded, mere seeing, hearing, touching, thinking, or emitting would have satisfied hunger. At last, with the downward breath, apāna, the Self sought to grasp the food, and this succeeded—indeed, the act of taking in food is the function of air, or life-breath. Then the Self wondered, “How could all this exist without me? By which means should I enter?” He reflected, “If speech speaks, breath breathes, sight sees, hearing hears, touch feels, thought contemplates, food is taken in by apāna, and seed is emitted—who, then, am I?” Breaking open the boundary, the Self entered through that door, which is called the door of joy (vidṛti). In this body, there are three dwellings, three states of dream or consciousness. Having entered, the Self, now born, perceived all beings and named them. He wondered, “What else here could I speak of?” He saw only the Person, the all-pervading Brahman, and declared, “This is the vision.” Therefore, he is called Idandra, though people speak of him indirectly as Indra, for the gods delight in what is indirect. In the human being, the embryo arises from the seed, the essence of all the limbs, gathered by the Self into itself. When the man pours this seed into a woman, he begets; this is his first birth. The seed becomes one with the woman, as if it were her own limb—thus, he does not harm her. She nurtures the Self that has come into her; as the nurturer, she deserves to be cherished. She bears the embryo, and while still in the womb, the father nurtures the child before birth. By nurturing the child, he nurtures his own Self for the continuity of the worlds. Thus, the worlds are perpetuated; this is his second birth. This Self is entrusted to good deeds. When the other Self, having fulfilled his duties and reached old age, departs, he is born again; this is his third birth. As the seer Vāmadeva proclaimed: “While yet in the womb, I knew all the births of the gods. A hundred iron fortresses held me, but swift as a hawk, I broke through them.” Thus, even in the womb, Vāmadeva spoke. Knowing thus, after departing from the body, the Self rises upward, and in the heavenly world, having attained all desires, becomes immortal. Who, then, is this Self whom we worship? By which one sees, hears, smells, speaks, and knows pleasure and pain? That which is this heart and this mind—perception, command, understanding, wisdom, intelligence, vision, steadfastness, thought, impulse, memory, intention, purpose, life, desire, control—all these are but names of consciousness. This is Brahman, this is Indra, this is Prajāpati; all the gods, the five great elements—earth, air, space, water, light—and all things, great and small; seeds of every kind, beings born from eggs, wombs, sweat, or sprouts; horses, cattle, people, elephants—whatever breathes, moves, flies, or stands still—all this is guided by consciousness, established in consciousness. The world is founded upon consciousness; consciousness is Brahman. With this intelligent Self, departing from this world, one rises to the heavenly world; having attained all desires, one becomes immortal, one becomes immortal.